Bioarchaeology and  Archaeological Sciences

Note: The Department of Anthropology affirms and abides by the Vermillion Accord on Human Remains. For more information, click HERE.

This multidisciplinary field of study that combines anthropological theory with methods from the social and natural sciences to illuminate the intersection between cultural, environmental and biological systems as they existed in the past. In this department we focus on: 1) diet, disease, and demography, 2) paleoanthropology and ecology, 3) social, economic and political organization and change. Ancient biological and cultural remains are analysed using traditional and modern scientific techniques (DNA, chemical, imaging, survey).

 

Faculty working in this core research area are:

Ian Colquhoun - My backgrounds in primate evolutionary biology and primate socioecology provide comparative frames of reference for bioarchaeological analysis and reconstruction, especially in regards to environmental and ecological interpretations. I am involved in interdisciplinary research here at Western as a member of the Paleoradiology Research Group, which has included Egyptian mummy bioarchaeological research.

  • The UWO Mummy Project Team (including IC Colquhoun, 2nd of 30 authors). Lady Hudson and mummy studies at UWO. Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology Newsletter/Bulletin No. 1: 15, 2005.
  • The Human Child in Primatological Perspective: Insights and Obstacles. Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology Newsletter/Bulletin No. 1: 11, 2006.

Chris Ellis - I am an archaeologist who specializes in the analysis of stone tools and manufacturing debris, usually the only material preserved on ancient sites. Theoretically, I have focused my attention on trying to devise new ways of using these tool and debris collections to enhance our documentation and understanding of past human lifestyles and especially in finding out about group mobility, land use patterns and the social dynamics of non-agricultural (e.g. hunting and gathering) peoples. Geographically, I have focused on Ontario and more broadly, the Great Lakes area, with a particular focus on the time prior to 3000 years ago. However, I have taught courses, carried out archaeological fieldwork, written/edited papers and books, and supervised graduate student research, on the whole archaeological record up to and including sites occupied by Europeans.

Lisa Hodgetts - My research applies zooarchaeological techniques (the study of animal bones from archaeological sites) to gain a better understanding of past human groups. I am particularly interested in the role of food as part of the broader cultural landscape. How does the capture and consumption of animals serve to both influence and express human social life? I work at a variety of geographic and temporal scales to reconstruct trends in diet, prey selection, mobility, and social organization in order to address important archaeological questions about Arctic and Sub-Arctic hunter-gatherers. Other recent work has focused on food and the construction of identity at an early English colony in Newfoundland.

  • Feast or Famine? Seventeenth Century English Colonial Diet at Ferryland, Newfoundland. Historical Archaeology 40(4):125-138. 2006
  • Dorset Palaeoeskimo Harp Seal Exploitation at Phillip’s Garden (EeBi-1), Northwestern Newfoundland. In The Exploitation and Cultural Importance of Sea Mammals, edited by Gregory Monks, p. 62-76. Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the International Council of Archaeozoology, Durham, August 2002. Oxford: Oxbow Books. 2005

Jean-François Millaire - As an archaeologist specializing in the Andean region of South America, my primary research interests lie in early complex societies of the Peruvian littoral. My work focuses on issues related to Prehispanic socio-political organization, settlement patterns, ritual practice, ancient technologies — especially ancient and contemporary textile production — and on the integration of GIS in archaeology. I am presently developing a research program to investigate the nature of early state formation and early urbanization along the north coast of Peru, which will focus on the polity that ruled over the Virú Valley during the Early Intermediate period (c. 200 BC-AD 800).

J. El Molto

Andrew Nelson

Peter Timmins

Christine White - I use chemical (stable isotopic) and forensic analysis of human skeletal and mummified remains to construct life histories of disease, diet, physical activity, environment and geographical relocations on both individual and populations scales. My goal is to reconstruct past living conditions, social structure, political and economic behaviour, migration, colonization, warfare, and marriage patterns. My current research program addresses major archaeological issues in Latin and North America, Egypt, and Peru but also helps us to understand the role that environmental change, socio-political upheavals, and technological revolutions have played in the history of human health, nutrition and population growth.

 

Also from this web page:

Other Core Research Areas

Environment, Culture and Political Ecology

Borders, Identities and Mobility

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